[CHAPTER 67]
“Why?”
Curden asked again as if nothing was wrong.
“You said you were preparing a lawsuit, meeting nobles all over the place, and you even had drinks with Marquis Beririch several times.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Is that all? You kept going in and out of Moonkasim like a restless dog to collect evidence, so why quit now?”
“I was just going to kill him.”
Caliph answered without emotion.
“I don’t need a trial anymore.”
His face was so blank it gave Curden chills.
When Caliph was truly furious, his eyes always became cold instead of heated.
Curden knew that look well from their long friendship.
So he had already guessed it.
The moment Caliph dragged in that count who almost killed Meyna twice, covered in blood.
The moment Caliph came up from the secret room after locking the man inside.
He had known since then that the law had become useless.
“How are you going to deal with the aftermath.”
Curdenās expression darkened.
“Itāll work out somehow.”
Caliph answered like he was talking about someone else and let his head drop tiredly as he sighed.
The smell of alcohol was heavy around him.
“Did you say goodbye properly to the aideā¦”
“When I first heard you were quitting.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“I thought I was going to lose my mind.”
Caliph muttered like he was talking to himself.
“Ever since that day, I havenāt been able to control my anger for even a moment.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“But at some point, it started to feel acceptable.”
Caliph nodded like he was answering his own thoughts.
“Things started settling.”
His lips twisted as if he was smiling and not smiling at the same time, and a faint dry laugh slipped out with his cigarette smoke.
“You idiot.”
Curden muttered in a low voice.
“Youā¦ youāre so angry you canāt even express it.”
Caliph slowly lifted his head.
“Say that again.”
“I was planning to.”
Curden gripped his pipe so tightly it looked as if it might break.
“Youāre worse than a dog.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Even a dog wags its tail at someone it loves. Even a dog shows loyalty to the one who feeds it.”
Curden Lota, the always composed and precise attorney who dominated every courtroom and never lost his cool in private.
Today he spat venom like he had never done before.
“How did you treat the aide.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“How did the aide treat you, you bastard.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Every time you whined or took your anger out, who listened. Who made your breakfast every morning. Who blended your juice. Who prepared your bed. Who made honey water when you came home drunk. Who took care of your medicine. Who did all of that.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Youāre worse than a dog. Do you get that?”
Caliph had never seen his friend this furious or this sharp-tongued.
Without giving him any time to hide his shame, Curden kept attacking relentlessly.
“What? Things settled? You accepted it?”
Curden let out a twisted laugh.
“Do you know what that is?”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Defense mechanism.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Youāre scared. Youāre terrified of losing Meyna, so you canāt even beg her to stay. Youāre pretending to be fine because you donāt want to get hurt, you stupid idiot.”
Caliphās heart, which he thought had calmed, churned violently.
Scared?
No. Impossible.
Sheās just an employee who worked with me. Thereās no reason toā¦
“Deep down you thought she might be lying, didnāt you? That there wasnāt really a new knight to serve. That she made it up.”
Caliphās eyes trembled.
“How would you know that person.”
He himself hadnāt even talked to her properlyā¦
How did Curden knowā¦
“Ha haā¦”
Curden laughed sharply.
“You think the Motenson couple offered that new contract only to her? What makes you think they wouldnāt replace you too?”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Answer, Caliph. How far do you think their quiet negotiations went.”
“Enough.”
Caliph warned through gritted teeth, each word pressed out painfully.
But Curden had no intention of stopping.
“Why are you clenching your fist. Planning to hit me?”
“I said enough.”
“Why hit me? You should hit the new Holy Knight. Hit him.”
Thud!
Curdenās body rolled backward from the punch.
The hardcover book on his knee flew into the grass with him.
Caliph punched him before he could stop himself, and now desperation filled his voice.
“Curden.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Shut up. Please.”
Weapons felt more natural in his hands than cutlery.
Blood and death were things he lived with every day.
He didnāt want to do something unforgivable to his oldest friend.
So pleaseāstop.
“Why not.”
Curden wiped the blood from his split lip and stood up.
“That man took Meyna from you. You should beat him. Kill him.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Whatās wrong. Afraid the aide will take his side?”
Curden sneered.
Caliph lunged and grabbed him by the collar.
Curdenās face reddened from lack of air, but his eyes showed no fear at all.
Caliph crushed his own fist instead of his friendās throat.
His nails dug in deep enough to draw blood.
“Do you know how much the fine is if a Holy Knight hits a civilian.”
Curden managed to speak even while gasping.
“You people donāt even get jail time. Wanna know why?”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Because our great Farman Empire needs to use you.”
He spat blood onto the ground.
Then he shook off Caliphās hand.
He couldnāt hold back anymore and raised his voice.
“Those above treat knights and mages like disposable tools. Thatās why all of you end up mentally broken and drug-dependent. None of you live like real human beings.”
He stomped his foot and screamed.
“The only reason youāre still functioning like a human is because of the aide. Do you get that? Do you, you idiot?”
The commotion outside finally carried into the mansion.
One of the maids looked outside and screamed when she saw the two of them.
Everyone turnedāMeyna included.
“If you knew that and still acted like this, youāre trash. If you didnāt know, thenā¦”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Stay ignorant. Die ignorant.”
Meyna and the servants hurried outside.
“If you realize all this decades later, youāll want to die by your own hand.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“So stay ignorant, you idiot.”
Silence fell.
Curdenās eyes were blurred with something like mist.
“The aide collapsed two weeks ago and was taken to the hospital.”
Caliphās lips twitched violently.
“Extreme stress and exhaustion caused inflammation inside her body. The numbers were similar to soldiers who came back from the battlefield.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“If it didnāt improve, she might have needed her uterus removed. And if it got worse, the inflammation could spread through her blood and rot her organs.”
“ā¦Why.”
Why are you only telling me now.
The words tore through him like a hot blade.
Curden answered as if he had read Caliphās thoughts.
“She told us not to tell you.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“She said she was quitting anyway, so what was the point of burdening you.”
Caliphās face drained of all color.
The fury left Curdenās voice, replaced by something soft and desperate.
“Even if someday you want to bring her backā¦ donāt.”
“ā¦ā¦.”
“Let her go. My friend.”
He said that last word, friend, like it weighed the world.
Then Curden collapsed like a deflated balloon.
“Sir Lota! Sir Lenocā”
Meyna ran out pale and breathless.
Caliph couldnāt bear to hear his name spoken.
He stepped back, opened a portal, and vanished.
